The Ivory 5050 came directly from user requests for a simple, yet great-sounding, valve front end and boasts the winning combination of a mic/line/instrument preamp and mono compressor, making it a very cost-effective way of processing your audio sources. The Ivory 5050 now features extras including a 30dB pad, hard/soft knee compression modes, a fully balanced line output, and an optional digital output.

The 5050 compressor features two valve stages, one in the preamp circuit, and one in the gain control element of the compressor. These Sovtek valve stages are run from a stabilized 150V DC power supply. So whether it's your best microphone, your vintage Strat, or your latest sample--don't trust it with anything less than the TL Audio 5050.

About TL Audio

TL Audio began manufacturing audio products in 1990, when the company - founded by Tony Larking - was largely involved in the restoration and re-selling of vintage equipment such as Neve and Trident recording consoles. The first TL Audio products were original Neve EQ modules, which were taken principally from broadcast consoles and re-packaged to make them suitable for music production studios. Shortly after this Tony Larking was introduced to David Kempson, a leading designer at Neve for nine years.By 1993 the demand for used valve outboard equipment had become very strong but most models such as the original Pultec and Fairchild valve devices were already extremely rare and expensive. There appeared an obvious gap in the market for brand new affordable valve products and the result was TL Audio's first valve product - the EQ-1 Dual Valve Equalizer. This product revolutionized the studio market by offering reliable, flexible, great sounding valve processing that was within the budget of most studios. The EQ-1 quickly attracted the interest of mainstream engineer/producers, with the first two production models going to Roy Thomas Baker (who had produced many of Queen and Foreigner's early recordings) and Chris Porter (who was working with George Michael and Take That).

The EQ-1 was the first of what became known as the 'Classic' range, and was followed by what has become possibly TL Audio's best known product - the C-1 Dual Valve Compressor, which shot to stardom as Chris Fogel's mixdown compressor on Alanis Morissette's multi-million selling 'Jagged Little Pill' album.

The Ivory SeriesWith the Classic range expanding to include more models, the growth in popularity of affordable digital recorders and mixers heightened the appetite for valve processing, which led to lower-cost ranges such as the Ivory models. The Ivory series of preamps, equalizers and dynamics devices has become TL Audio's best selling range of products to date. The Ivory Series satisfied all the criteria that we knew customers were looking for: a great sound, flexibility and user friendliness, all with a smaller price tag!

Today, TL Audio has become one of the most respected names currently manufacturing Pro Audio equipment. According to designer David Kempson, "Our hybrid design approach was not chosen to cut costs: we created it because we genuinely believe it is a better way of producing valve processors. It makes them consistent, reliable, quiet, and - best of all - it means that by gearing ourselves up for large-scale production we can make the products affordable as well. Every studio deserves to benefit from the advantages of valve signal processing - with our products, we make that possible."

I really like this preamp, but with one complaint -- it does not have a XLR out. I use this mostly for bass, guitar and drum machines. Tube sound is great and you can push this little preamp to the limit. Compressor is a added bonus. I would buy it again if it were lost or broken.